Wisconsin Banking Rates and News

PNC Bank continues to offer a $100 bonus for opening its Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend and for performing certain activities. PNC has made it a little easier to qualify for the $100 bonus compared to last year. However, customers will have to be careful to avoid fees. The Performance Spend is an "upgraded" version of Virtual Wallet, and it has potential monthly fees.

Here's the link to PNC's promotion page. The offer is scheduled to end on 6/30/2012. You can open the account online or choose to have them email you a coupon to take to...

North Shore Bank is offering a $150 bonus when you open a new checking account with Direct Deposit OR 10 qualifying debit card transactions. The offer is listed at bank's promotions page, and it's scheduled to end on 5/9/2012.

Below is the small print of the offer:

Limit 1 new checking bonus per household per year. Not valid with other offers. Only available until 5/9/12. Other restrictions may apply. $25 initial deposit required with direct deposit to open checking account, otherwise $50. Bonus will be paid out after 6/15/12. Debit card transactions or Social Security/payroll direct deposit must...

Update 5/25/2012: The 5-year Premium Money Market CD rate has fallen. According to the CSR, it's now 1.65% APY (down from 1.80% APY on 5/11). This is for California. Rates may vary for other states.

It's not common to find competitive CD rates at large brick-and-mortar banks, but I found one at Bank of the West. It's offering a 2.00% APY 5-year CD. This is the bank's Premium Money Market CD which requires a $2,500 minimum deposit. The rate isn't listed online, and it may vary by state. I called the bank yesterday (3/27/2012) and verified it for the bank's...

Bank of the West has just started a new checking account promotion with a bonus of up to $100. In addition, the bank will donate $25 to local schools. You can also earn another $25 by opening a credit card with the checking account. I didn't include this in the total bonus since there are many credit card bonuses that are over $25.

Bonus Details are listed in this Bank of the West promotions page. The checking account must be opened by 4/27/2012.

If you decide to give this promotion a try, don't forget Bank of the West...

Bank Mutual is offering a checking account promotion to celebrate the bank's 120th birthday. You can earn $120 for opening one of their qualifying checking accounts, adding direct deposit and registering for online banking with e-Statements. The offer is scheduled to last through March 31, 2012. The details are listed at the bank's promo page. The page lists four checking accounts that qualify for this promotion. All have potential monthly fees. One is the Money Management Package. It's a checking/savings combo. The only mention of fees that I see is if e-statements are...

Dupaco Community Credit Union is offering two CD specials with very competitive rates: 1.91% APY for 35 months and 1.30% APY for 15 months. Minimum deposit is $5,000. The credit union also has competitive rates on its standard long-term CDs. The two best are a 2.41% APY 5-year CD and a 2.01% APY 4-year CD. These rates are listed in the credit union's certificate rates page as of 2/9/2012.

Dupaco used to have a good deal on its High-Yield Savings Account. It's still a good deal for those who already have this...

Central Bank is offering four CD specials with competitive rates. These are a 2.10% APY 59-month CD, a 1.25% APY 25-month CD, a 1.00% APY 17-month CD and a 0.85% APY 11-month CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000, and the maximum is $100,000. These special rates are listed at the bottom of the bank's Minnesota rates page as of 1/24/2012. I was told these also apply to the bank's Florida branch.

A branch visit is required to open an account. Most of Central Bank branches are located in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the Minneapolis/St. Paul...

AnchorBank is offering up to $150 for opening any new personal checking account and performing certain activities. This is a nice upgrade from last year's promotion which had just a $100 bonus. This offer is listed in the bank's promotion page. It's scheduled to end on 4/15/2012.

The required activities include:

• $50 for opening a checking account
• $50 for setting up direct deposit
• $50 for making three debit card purchases

The direct deposit and debit card purchases must be completed within 60 days of account opening. Existing checking account customers are not eligible for the bonus. Another important note...

I had missed this before the holidays, but it looks like a new reward checking account with a competitive rate and balance cap. It's being offered by Nicolet National Bank in Wisconsin. There are some signs that it's open to all. I've sent a message to the bank, and I'll update this post when I receive a reply. The bank calls the account the Real Rewards Checking, and it has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met (as of 12/02/2011):

• 3.00% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.50% APY on portion of balance over...

On Friday US Bank did something that's rare these days. It raised the rate of its competitive long-term CD. The rate of the 59-month CD special increased from 2.00% to 2.25% APY. The two other special CDs with shorter terms are not nearly as competitive. One is a 1.25% APY 37-month CD and the other is a 1.01% APY 19-month CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000, and the maximum is $249,999. These rates are listed in US Bank's CD page as of 10/31/2011. Rates could change at any time, but they typically change on Friday mornings.

If you're leaving your megabank, here's one reason to choose a community bank instead of a credit union. Community Bank and Trust continues to offer a very competitive reward checking account that it calls PowerInterest Checking. I first reviewed this account in January 2010. One nice change is that they now have an online application which appears to allow all Wisconsin residents to apply. One nice thing that has not changed is the rate and balance cap. It has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met (as of 10/28/2011):

• 3.05% APY on balances up to...

PNC Bank's Virtual Wallet has changed quite a bit since I first reviewed it in 2009. The good news is that it's still easy to keep it free without monthly fees. Considering how many of the large banks have added monthly fees and debit card fees to their checking accounts, PNC's Virtual Wallet is noteworthy. The bad news is that you don't get rewarded like you used to. Another downside is that it has become more complicated. Virtual Wallet has never been simple. It's composed of three different accounts:

• Spend Account (checking)
• Reserve Account (for short-term savings & overdraft protection)
• Growth...